


Revelations

by helsinkibaby



Category: NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: Community: casestory, F/M, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-14
Updated: 2013-06-14
Packaged: 2017-12-14 23:48:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/842839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kensi is late to work one morning, the rest of the team get a surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Revelations

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure how case-y this is, but this is for the Case Story Big Bang 3.0.   
> Art by ascendant_angel; link forthcoming.

Kensi Blye's desk is perfectly clean, has no folders or paperwork of any kind on it; it is a desk that is clear evidence that its owner has been on holidays for the past two weeks, because it would never be that clean when Kensi was there working at it. This morning, however, there is something in the middle of the desk - a take out mug of coffee and a double chocolate chip muffin. Nell sees it the moment she walks into the bullpen, hides a smile and resolves to tease Kensi about it later, when it's just the two of them indulging in a little catch up girl talk. The guys, she can tell, have no such inhibitions, with Sam and Callen already wearing huge grins, Sam leaning back in his chair, Callen leaning forward in his, both of them giving Deeks hell.

"You never do that for me," Sam tells Callen, and Callen's hand goes to his chest, the very definition of Victorian shock.

"I'm hurt, Sam," he replies. "Though it's not like you do it for me either."

"It's sweet though..."

"Very sweet."

"It is not sweet." Deeks's words come out through a gritted smile. "It's just a welcome back partner type thing. Kensi would do it for me."

"No she wouldn't." Sam's response is instant.

"And she hasn't." Callen adds his own two cents in. "Shame she's late, the coffee's gonna be cold... maybe I should..."

Just then, his cell phone emits a loud bleeping noise and Callen reacts instantly, grabbing it from his desk. Nell, Deeks and Sam all look at it sharply because it's not Callen's normal ring tone, and when his face actually literally drains of colour, Nell knows that whatever he's reading, it's not good. "It's an agent in need of assistance alert,'" he tells them, already heading to the stairs that brings them to Ops. "It's Kensi."

That's all any of them need to hear to have them following in his footsteps and when they get into Ops, Hetty is already there, standing behind Eric whose hands are flying over computer keyboards, trying to figure out what is going on. Nell drops into her seat beside him, trying to quell the rising fear in her stomach, because she knows the protocol, knows that the likelihood of Kensi entering the same number twice by accident into her phone is slim and none. "No signal from her cell," Eric reports. "It's either turned off or..."

He stops there; there's no need for him to continue. "I'll try her landline," Nell says, punching in the number from memory, tapping her foot impatiently as it rings. Hetty orders her to put the phone on speaker so she does, does her best not to wince when she hears Kensi's upbeat message. Taking a deep breath, she doesn't beat around the bush, says, "Kensi, it's Nell...we just got an agent needs assistance alert from your cell; if you're there, pick up so-"

She stops talking when they hear the phone being picked up, and she's sighing with relief but the sigh turns into a sharp intake of breath when the person who answers, the voice they hear saying, "Nell," is not Kensi's.

It's not Kensi's voice, but it is familiar. It's a man's voice, a voice they all know well and Nell, in her shock, has to force the word out.

"Nate?"

There's a question in her voice that goes unanswered as Nate asks one of his own. "What happened?"

Nell looks over at Eric, then around at the others, eyes wide in question. The only answer she gets is a shrug of the shoulders from Eric, a gesture from Hetty that's as clear an order to keep talking as ever she's been given. Shaking herself, because they have more pressing concerns right now than who is answering Kensi's phone and why, she continues, "We got an alert a couple minutes ago, from Kensi's cell. Agent in need of assistance. She's not there?"

"No." Nate's voice is terse, clipped. "She left here about twenty five minutes ago...even on her longest route, she should be there by now."

"I'll start looking at traffic cams." Eric is already pressing buttons, changing the screens to shots of Los Angeles and Nell doesn't get to say anything else before Nate speaks.

"I'm on my way," he says and he hangs up the phone with a click. Nell leans forward, starts pressing the same buttons as Eric, trying not to let Deeks's confused mutter of "What the hell?" linger in her mind.

They've got a job to do - find Kensi.  
*  
Blaring rock music shatters Nate's slumber, eighties hair bands blasting through the speakers. It's not his favourite thing to wake up to which is only part of the reason he smacks the button hard, enjoying the sudden silence, which is broken only by the groan of the woman beside him. He chuckles as Kensi flips over onto her stomach, presses her face into her pillow, showing no signs of wanting to move. "It's too early," she mumbles - or at least, he thinks that's what she says. Either way, he chuckles again, running his fingers down her spine.

"Just because we haven't had an alarm for the last two weeks...." he chides gently, regretting the move somewhat when she turns one eye on him, which turns out to be more threatening than having a two-eyed glare turned on him.

"Just because someone doesn't have to go back to work until tomorrow..." she grumbles and he shrugs one shoulder, the same one with the hand that's still tracing a pattern up and down the skin of her back. She shifts under his ministrations, moving into his touch and he stifles a smile. The idea that he can affect her like this is relatively new and he's still enjoying it.

"You could call in sick," he suggests, and he's only half joking.

She lifts her head then, turns it so that she can see him. "Yeah, right," Kensi says, her voice scoffing, but he can see the wistfulness in her gaze. "Like anyone would buy me being 'sick' after two weeks of vacation."

Nate nods, keeping his face perfectly straight. "Besides, Deeks would send out a search party."

Probably remembering, as he was, a yoga retreat and a helicopter landing on the beach, Kensi groans again, returns her face to the pillow. "Stop," she orders, and even though he chuckles, he does as he's told, mindful of the fact that Kensi could take him with one hand tied behind her back. "You're a bad influence on me," she decides when she lifts her head again, this time turning herself around so that she's lying on her back, staring up at him. The sheet slips down as she moves and she makes no move to pull it back up again, displaying a tantalising amount of flesh that belies her words about just who is the bad influence.

"Is that so?" Nate asks, moving so that he's lying on top of her, their bodies pressed together, with the inevitable physical response that that implies. "Well then," he continues, bringing his lips to her neck and moving against her slowly, deliberately. "I'd hate to disappoint you..."

They lose complete track of time then so Nate neither knows nor cares what time it is when Kensi lifts her head from his chest and gives him what can only be described as a Cheshire Cat grin. "Definitely not a disappointment," she declares and Nate's inner frat boy does a celebratory dance. On the outside though, he simply runs a hand up her back, tangles his fingers in her hair and pulls her down for another long, lingering kiss.

When Kensi pulls away from him, she glances at the clock and lets out a groan. "I am so late," she says, hopping out of bed, heading for the bathroom. "I need to shower." Nate raises an eyebrow and Kensi must know instinctively what he's thinking because she half turns and wags a finger at him. "Not an invitation," she says. "I need a shower so I don't smell like what we just did...you joining me would be..." She smiles, apparently considering her words, then shakes her head. "Counterproductive."

"But fun." Nate waggles his eyebrows, just to make her laugh, because a Kensi Blye laugh is something that he'll never get tired of hearing.

"Rain check?" she asks and he's only too happy to grant her one, and if it's difficult to stay out of the bathroom while she's in the shower - he's very tempted, but again, the whole kill-you-with-one-finger thing, while a turn-on, is also a successful deterrent- he busies himself with making a pot of coffee and a plate of scrambled eggs and toast.

She eats it standing up, wolfing it down so quickly that his mother's warning voice rings in his ears and only the look in Kensi's eyes stops him from speaking. "You are amazing," she declares, mouth full of food as she glances at the clock on the wall. "Hetty is going to kill me."

"I'd try to reassure you, but yeah, you're screwed." Nate is completely deadpan and Kensi throws him the evil eye as she takes her last bite of eggs and transfers her coffee into a travel mug. "Guess I know which route you're taking."

Kensi nods, names the fastest way from her to the mission. "And I just hope there's no accidents," she mutters, pressing her lips to his quickly before she leaves. "See you tonight."

"You hope." The words, though pessimistic, are true; one of the perks of working where they work is that anything can happen at any time and plenty of them can mean an all-nighter, or a go bag pulled from a locker. "Drive carefully," he adds, because he's driven with Kensi when she's in a hurry and figures a reminder won't hurt.

"Always do," she throws back over her shoulder and the door slams behind her and she is gone.

Grinning to himself, Nate finishes off the plate of eggs he made for himself, pours a second cup of coffee which he sips as he straightens up the kitchen. The laundry hamper is his next stop, because vacation clothes won't wash themselves and Kensi has been known to have a somewhat collegiate attitude to the task. The machine is filled and on, breakfast dishes are in a sink of water and his cup of coffee is almost empty when the phone rings.

His first impulse is to answer it, and it's one he quashes straight away. Anyone who would have Kensi's landline number is either a telemarketer, who he doesn't want to speak to, or someone who knows Kensi very well, which means probably someone he knows too, someone who shouldn't know that he's there. So he doesn't rush to pick up, walks slowly into the living room and eyes the machine warily, waiting for Kensi's voice to finish the message and the caller to speak.

What he hears makes him wish he'd hurried.

"Kensi, it's Nell.." Nate doesn't have to be a psychologist to hear the worry in the woman's voice. "We just got an agent needs assistance call from your cell; if you're there, pick up so-"

His hand is on the unit the second he registers "agent needs assistance" and he speaks one word. "Nell?"

There's a split second of silence, for which he can't really blame her. "Nate?"

"What happened?" He's aware he sounds abrupt, promises himself he'll apologise later. A glance at his watch, though, has his jaw setting firm.

Nell's answer this time comes more quickly. "We got an alert a couple minutes ago, from Kensi's cell. Agent in need of assistance. She's not there?"

"No." Another glance at his watch has him doing the math in his head and he doesn't like any of the answers he gets. "She left here about twenty five minutes ago...even on her longest route, she should be there by now." And definitely on her shortest, which is the one she said she'd take.

In the background he can hear Eric saying something about traffic cameras, and he's already reaching for his car keys because he knows the route, can retrace Kensi's steps and see what he can find out. "I'm on my way," he says into the phone before he hangs up.

He takes the route he knows Kensi was going to take, drives slowly so that he can keep an eye out for anything suspicious, muttering half remembered prayers to a God he's not so sure he believes in any more. He still reaches the mission a little more than half an hour after he left, and his heart sinks at the realisation. Parking in the first place he finds, he hurries to Ops, takes the steps two at a time and barely takes the time to see who's there before he asks, "Anything?"

A quick sweep of the room as he waits for his answer reveals the usual suspects, all alternating between staring at the large screens and glancing at the two tech wizards operating the machinery. Callen and Sam are standing stock still, the former serious, the latter glowering as if that would make the screens reveal something. Deeks is pacing the room as fast as Eric and Nell's fingers are moving over the keyboards, Hetty standing behind and in between them, glowering almost as much as Sam.

"Mr Getz," she says, turning to face him, eyes narrowed in something that looks an awful lot like suspicion. "What a surprise to have you joining us this morning."

Any other morning, Nate would be ready to turn tail and run after that opening salvo. Today, he stands his ground, gives Hetty what is supposed to be a smile and asks again, "Anything?"

"Kensi's cell seems to be turned off; we can't get a signal." Nell is the first to speak. "We're trying facial rec on Kaleidoscope and Eric is working the traffic cams."

Nate names the route that Kensi had said she was taking, adds "I just came that way...nothing."

Eric glances over his shoulder at him. "You said she left her place an hour ago?"

"Just over."

"Let me see what that gets us." Eric is pushing buttons at a rate of knots, enough to make Nate dizzy and he closes his eyes for a second, clenches his left fist and brings it to his lips, his left elbow resting on his right arm across his chest. A second later, centred again, his eyes are open, scanning the screens, waiting, hoping.

"Nate." It's Deeks who speaks, which is about what he was expecting. A glance acsross the room reveals that Deeks isn't looking so much at him as at his hand and Nate knows where this is going, sends a thousand mental apologies to Kensi and hopes that he gets to share them in person. "Nate, what's that on your hand?"

Nate can feel the eyes of the other agents swivel in his direction. Even the clacking of keyboard keys seems to slow down. "It's a wedding ring," he tells them simply, taking his fist from his chin and looking at the gleaming gold band for a moment.

"Whhhhhhy?" The word is long and drawn out, Deeks again, and something about the look in his eye rubs Nate the wrong way, for reasons he can't articulate and reasons that he can.

"Because I'm married."

In the stunned silence that follows, it is Eric who breaks it, asking the question they have probably already guessed the answer to. "To...?"

Nate looks at him, sees the amazement in his eyes, glances around the room and sees similar looks on everyone's faces. Sighing, he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, because this is not close to the way things were supposed to go. Opening his eyes, he finds the gaze of the one person whose opinion really matters, in more ways than one: Hetty, whose eyes are narrowed as if she can't believe what she's hearing. "To Kensi," he confirms quietly. "Ten days ago." If that was for everyone, the next is for Hetty only. "She wanted to tell you herself, Hetty... it was going to be the first thing she did this morning."

There is a long, long pause before Hetty replies. When she does, her lips are in a thin line, one fist pressed to her chin. "Well then," she says, "We'd better find her so that we can have that conversation, Mr Getz."

Just then, Eric lurches forward in his seat. "Got something," he says, and all eyes are instantly trained upon the view screen. "Putting it up now..."

As they watch, Kensi's car moves down the street, at rather a faster pace than might have been expected. Nate would have thought it was just because she was late but then again, Kensi always drives like that. A car comes up behind her, close to her, and when Kensi changes lanes, it follows her. Kensi speeds up; the car speeds up too. Kensi flicks her turn signal, takes a right she shouldn't have made; the other car follows her. Both cars go out of camera range and Sam's "Eric," is a warning, even as Eric is frantically pressing buttons, saying, "Working on it..."

The camera angle changes but the cars are still there and that's when it happens. The car behind Kensi rear-ends her, then does it again. The impact is hard enough to force her off the road, into a parked car and that's when two men jump out of the second car, faces obscured by masks. They go to Kensi's car, force open the door and drag her out. One pins her arms behind her, the other punches her and she slumps to the ground. Picking her up, they carry her to their car and drive away.

"She changed her route," Nate says, more to himself than anyone else. "She must have known they were tailing her..." It also explains how he didn't see any trace of her car as he was en route to the mission.

"Can we follow them?" Callen is leaning over Eric's shoulder and the younger man's jaw is set as he glances across to Nell. She shakes her head, looking stricken.

"We lose them two blocks later," she says. "Nate, I'm sorry."

"What about enhancing the image, license plates, anything?" There's an edge of desperation in Deeks's voice and Eric nods.

"I'll get on it."

That's when Nate's cell phone rings and he grabs it straight away, frowning at a number he doesn't recognise. He answers it anyway, and when he says hello, the answer he gets is the only one he wants.

"Nate?"

"Kensi?"

*

When Kensi sees the car close behind her in her rear-view mirror, she thinks she's imagining things at first, that the conversation she's going to have to have with Hetty first thing - or maybe later, considering she's going to be late - is playing on her mind, making her needlessly paranoid. One too many Sam Hanna lectures have her well trained though, so she flicks on her turn signal, pulls into the next lane. When the car makes the exact same manoeuvre, that's when she starts to feel the hairs standing up on the back of her neck. She goes straight into defensive driving mode, changes her route, at the same time grabbing her cell phone from the passenger seat where she'd thrown it in case Hetty asked one of the team to give her a "where the hell are you?" phone call. She just about gets the code for agent in need of assistance punched in - and seriously, in this day and age, they can't come up with an easier way of doing things? - when her car is rear-ended forcefully. The impact knocks the breath out of her, a second jolt follows and then there is a parked car coming up at speed. She thinks someone must be looking over her because just before the screech of metal on metal rings through her ears, she punches in the fourth number for the second time and she sees the alert registering, but then she is flung forward in her seat. She's dazed, knows she needs to run but can't, not even when her door is wrenched open and she's dragged out of the car. She gets a glimpse of a marked man pulling her in front of him, then another with a fist coming quickly towards her and then there is only darkness.

When she wakes up, she is lying, gagged, on a cold, concrete floor, hands bound behind her, legs bound at the ankles. She moves her head slightly, not eager to let anyone know she is awake, opens her eyes just enough that she can see she is alone in a large room. The ceiling is high, the walls bare and it looks for all the world to Kensi like an abandoned warehouse.

Slowly, her every muscle protesting, she twists her body around, moving her arms, legs, thrusting her tongue at the gag to try to loosen it. Much to her surprise, there is a slight amount of give in the ropes around her wrists and she uses that for all she is worth, rubbing and pulling and doing everything she can to break the bonds. She doesn't know how long it takes, doesn't know what higher power is looking out for her, but eventually, she feels a strand go and from there, fear and adrenaline do the rest. Once her hands are freed, she removes the gag, shakes her arms to get some feeling back into them, tries not to wince at the rope burns around her wrist, knowing they will fade in time. Something that does surprise her is the state of the rope her captors used - old and worn, it wouldn't have stood up to much use; someone like Sam would have broken it in much less time than it took her. "What is this, amateur hour?" She can hear the other agent's voice in her head and it makes her smile. Then it galvanises her into action because if Sam Hanna knew she was standing here wasting time, he'd tie her up again just to teach her a lesson.

She makes short work of the ties around her legs, stands with difficulty and makes her way towards the door. Slowly, carefully, she pushes down the handle, sees a corridor in front of her and what looks like a fire door at the end of it. She stands perfectly still, listening and when she hears nothing, she makes her way down the corridor quickly, staying low, ready to bolt at the slightest noise.

No-one bothers her, and when she gets to the fire door, she wonders if it's going to be alarmed. A quick calculation tells her that's the least of her worries and she pushes down the lever, blinking as the bright light from the morning sky hits her eyes. There is a loud alarm from the door, but no shout of warning and she takes one step away, then two, and then she is running as fast as her shaky legs can carry her.

She keeps running, keeping track of where she's turning until she comes to a corner bodega. She slows, takes a deep breath and smoothes down her hair, pulls her shirt sleeves over her wrists and goes calmly inside. The woman behind the counter, a kindly looking woman with white hair, probably old enough to be Kensi's grandmother, gasps when she sees her and Kensi rattles off an explanation about how she'd been car-jacked and she doesn't know where she is and could she please use her phone to call her husband?

The woman nods, thrusts a handset at Kensi, ushers her into a back room and Kensi dials Nate's cell number before she's even stopped walking. When she hears it ringing, she holds her breath and when there's a click, when she hears him say, "Hello?" she sags against the wall.

"Nate?"

"Kensi?" The word is almost a shout and she bites her lip against a sob of relief. She can't fall apart, not now, not yet. She hears commotion in the background, hears him confirming that it is indeed her, hears Eric saying something about tracing the call. "Kensi, do you know where you are?"

She nods, even though she knows he can't see her. "I was car-jacked," she tells him, just in case there are listening ears on the other side of the wall. "I found a bodega, asked to use their phone..." She names the location of the street, then says, "I think I passed that warehouse that Sam used to work in too... the one a couple of blocks over? The fire alarm was going off like crazy..."

If the shopkeeper is listening to her, Kensi hopes that she'll write it off as shock, but Nate, and whoever else is listening understands exactly what she means. "I'm on it," she hears Nell saying, and she realises that she's been put on speaker.

"Kensi, are you ok?" It's Nate again and she can hear the worry in his voice. It brings tears to her eyes and she forces them back. No falling apart. Not now, not yet, she reminds herself.

"A bit shaken, but I'll live," is all she'll admit to and his reply of "OK," means more to her than the brevity suggests it should.

"OK, I've got a lock on the phone." It's Eric's voice. "Sending co-ordinates to your phone, Sam."

"Kens, we're on our way." It's Sam's voice, capable, reassuring, and Nate's voice follows immediately.

"We'll be with you soon," he says. "You stay safe."

Then the phone clicks off and all Kensi can do is wait. The shopkeeper, after a couple of moments of silence, enters the room with a bottle of water and a candy bar which Kensi takes eagerly. For once, she can't face the candy but the water is welcome and she sips it slowly, keeping one eye on the sliver of the front door she can see from the back room.

Then the bell above the door rings and a tall man walks in and she's moving before she even registers why. She barely hears him say something about his wife and then she's in front of him, her arms around his neck as he pulls her close against his chest. Closing her eyes, she buries her face in the crook of his neck, feels her feet being lifted off the ground as he slides both arms around her waist and holds her tightly.

All too soon, she feels his grip loosen, the slight movement bringing the realisation that Callen and Sam are probably close by, watching all this, and she takes half a step back. Nate still has his arms around her though, won't let her move any further away as he looks down at her with worried eyes. "Are you ok?"

He's asked her that any amount of times since they've known one another, the most recent being ten days ago when they'd woken up in Vegas with rings on their fingers. Then, as now, she is able to smile at him, tell him honestly, "Getting better all the time."

The smile he gives her is more relief than anything and with a wave over her shoulder to her benefactor, she allows Nate to lead her out the door, towards the waiting car. It's Sam's Challenger and she relaxes even more when she sees it - somehow, having Sam around always makes her feel safe. Making her feel safer still is the sight of not only Sam, but Callen and Deeks waiting beside the vehicle, eyes moving from the sky to the street to her and Nate. She can almost see their hands itching go for their weapons and she gives the three of them a tight smile as she climbs into the back seat. She hears Callen saying, "Let's go," as Nate climbs in beside her, knees almost up to his chin. Deeks gets in on her other side and she shoots him a grin that fades quickly when he sees his gaze riveted on her knees. She looks down, confused and that's when she realises that she is still holding Nate's hand, so tight her knuckles are white.

When they arrive back at the mission, Sam parks the Challenger as close to the main entrance as he can get. Kensi is following Sam and Callen up to Ops, ready if not eager to face the music when she realises that Nate isn't moving, moreover that he is squeezing her hand, a silent message to her to stay still too. Sam is the first one who notices, turning his head and raising an eyebrow in question, looking not at Kensi, she realises quickly, but at Nate.

"Guys," Nate says, and she is startled to realise how hoarse his voice sounds. "Give us a minute, would you?"

Deeks opens his mouth to say something, Callen narrows his eyes, but Sam's lips draw up in a smile of what might very well be understanding. "We'll see you up there." It's no accident, Kensi is sure, that he takes a step back to allow Deeks and Callen to go ahead of him and she finds herself smiling at him, never having pegged Sam for the romantic type. Then again, he's very much the guardian angel type, so maybe that's what this is. She turns to Nate, about to share her observations with him, but the look in his eyes stops the words in her throat.

He takes in a shuddering breath, lets it out slowly as his left hand finds her cheek, thumb sweeping a path over her skin. The weight of his touch, of that emotion in his eyes, has her eyelids fluttering shut and she has to force them open so that she can look at him. "I'm ok, Nate," she whispers. "Really."

"Yeah, well," Nate's voice is shaky, "That makes one of us, at least." He tries to smile, to make a joke, but she's not having that, whispers his name as she winds her arms around his neck.

They stand like that for a long moment and when he pulls back, he takes her face in his hands, brings his lips to hers. In deference to where they are, the kiss is gentle, almost chaste, tongues only touching for the barest of moments but under the circumstances, it's enough to have Kensi's head spinning. "I love you," Nate tells her when he pulls away and her smile up at him comes easily.

"I love you too." His hands slide from her face to her shoulders, down to her hands, squeezing them tightly. Something cuts into her hand and she glances down in some surprise to see his wedding ring on his finger. He follows her gaze and shrugs.

"I wasn't exactly thinking about taking it off," he tells her and she grins, liking the sight of it there. "Of course, now everyone knows..."

Kensi lifts an eyebrow. "I figured," she says. "I got the agent needs assistance off... they would have called home, you would have let the machine get it, but picked up when you heard Eric..."

"Nell."

"When you heard Nell talking... from there, it wouldn't have taken much." A pause, a squeeze of his hands. "Are they pissed?"

"I think stunned is the word." His hands slide around her waist. "But they were too busy trying to find you to grill me about it."

Kensi sighs. "Guess it's time to face the music then." She chuckles without humour. "I was so geared up for that this morning..."

Nate squeezes her hand. "Maybe it's better this way... we're a team, remember? We do things together."

"Together then." Hand in hand, they head up the stairs.

*

When Sam, Deeks and Callen arrive back into Ops alone, Nell's heart stops for a terrifying moment before Sam says, "Nate and Kensi are downstairs....they'll be up in a minute." Something about the tone of his voice makes Nell smile, dart a quick look at Eric and see that the same expression is on his face. "Anything on the warehouse, Eric?"

Eric shakes his head. "We found it because of the alarm, sent Logan and Gardner over to check it out. No-one there, no clues to speak of and no leads from the ownership papers... the head office of the company that owns it isn’t great at answering their phones; I'm waiting for them to get back to me to see who had access to it."

"No luck with facial recognition?" Deeks sounds hopeful but it's Nell's turn to shake her head.

"No security cameras on the warehouse," she reports. "We're looking for their car on traffic cams going to and from it but nothing yet."

Just then, the doors to Ops slide open and Kensi and Nate walk in. Nell stifles a gasp when she sees Kensi, because her jaw is turning a mottled shade of purple and her cheek is scratched to hell. As she walks in, she pushes back a lock of hair, allowing her shirt sleeve to rise up and the lines around her wrist are red and raw. She looks like hell, but she is holding Nate's hand and as Nell looks at them, she sees him squeeze her hand, sees Kensi's eyes light up.

Eyes forward, Nell, she tells herself. Ops is not the place to go all gooey-eyed and romantic.

"Ms Blye." Hetty breaks the silence, walking towards Kensi, voice ringing with relief. "It is so good to see you." She embraces the younger agent and when she pulls back, Nell can see a twinkle in her eye. "Or should I be calling you 'Mrs Getz' now?" Nate actually blanches, Kensi gets a fixed grin on her face and to her left, Nell hears Eric choke back a guffaw. "Never mind, we'll discuss nomenclature later. Tell us everything."

Kensi takes a deep breath and obliges, but can tell them nothing that they don't already know, can give no other details about the men. "How did they know where you live?" Sam demands and all Kensi can do is shake her head.

"We were on vacation, Sam, we only got back the day before yesterday, late... I didn't see anyone following us... did you?" She looks at Nate and he shakes his head.

"Would you have even noticed?" Deeks's mutter isn't so quiet that it can be missed and Kensi looks like he's slapped her. Nate, on the other hand, clenches his jaw and Nell is taken aback; all the years she's known Nate, she's never seen him look like that before.

It falls to Callen to diffuse the situation. "OK, we need to know where you were, what you did and when." He makes a face, but winks as he says, "Obviously, there are some bits you can skip."

Nate visibly relaxes but Kensi still looks stricken as he begins to speak. With all eyes on Nate, Nell is the only one who notices as Kensi slips out of the room and she gives her a couple of minutes before touching Eric on the shoulder, tilting her head towards the door and whispering, "I'll be back."

The ladies' locker room is deserted, and for a second, Nell thinks she's mistaken. Then she turns the very last corner, sees Kensi sitting on a bench there. "Knock knock," she says quietly, pretending not to notice as Kensi jumps slightly, bringing two hands up to her eyes.

"How did you manage to find me here?"

Despite her appearance, Kensi's voice is flat, emotionless, but Nell just shoots her a grin and raises an eyebrow. "What, are you kidding me? You think you're the only one who has a bad day and hides out in the ladies' locker room?" That brings the barest ghost of a smile to Kensi's face, even if it doesn't quite reach her eyes. Taking her chances, Nell sits down on the bench beside her. "I'm serious. Some of us were trying to find a spare locker... have a little red wine and chocolate stash..."

"You think Hetty would go for that?"

Nell purses her lips. "I'm fairly sure Hetty was the one who came up with the idea." Which is so absurd that it has to be true, which it actually is. Kensi tilts her head, as if considering it, and Nell knows the exact moment she chooses to accept it as fact by the flicker of light in her eyes. "I guess you could use that right about now."

Kensi leans back, lets her head find the wall and closes her eyes. "What I could use," she says slowly, "Is for them to stop looking at me like I'm going to break. I hate it." There is untold venom in her voice which surprises Nell not at all, even if she doesn't agree with what Kensi had just said. After all, Kensi is used to being in control and today, she's been the furthest thing from that. Nell opens her mouth but before she can say anything, Kensi cuts across her. "And please don't tell me that they're just worried about me. I hate them worrying about me...feeling like they have to look out for me. I've spent years trying not to be the girl on the team and now..."

"Seriously?" Nell is not the kind of person to interrupt anyone, especially when they have something they so obviously need to get off their chest, but there are some things, she believes, that just have be to shot down. "Kensi, do you think for a moment that we would have reacted differently, done anything differently, if that agent needs assistance call had been for Sam, or Callen, or Deeks? They're not worried about you because you're a woman; they're freaked out because they thought they were going to lose you." She looks down at the floor, scuffs the toe of her sandals against the tiles. "We all were."

The last is said more quietly and Kensi responds with a sigh, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees, rubbing her hands over her face. "God, I sound like such a bitch," she mutters and Nell shrugs as she claps her on the back.

"Yeah, but we're used to it." The words surprise a laugh from Kensi, surprised but genuine, and she grins widely at Nell.

"That is the most normal interaction I've had all day. Thank you."

Nell scoots back a little on the bench, brings one knee up underneath her. "Don't you think," she says slowly, carefully, "That it might be a little less to do with the whole 'damsel in distress' thing and the fact that none of us got an invite to the wedding?" Kensi's cheeks flood crimson and Nell beams at the reaction. "I mean... you should have seen the look on Deeks's face when he saw the ring on Nate's finger... I thought he was going to have a stroke. And Nate, he didn't even blink, didn't react... he was so worried, Kensi..."

Kensi shakes her head. "I know. I know." She sighs. "Seems like we spend most of our time worrying... me about him, him about me... I'm kinda sick of it actually."

Nell bites her lip, as if that would keep the words back, then decides to hell with it. Life is just too short. "OK, so I wasn't going to ask, but..."

Kensi's eyes actually sparkle, which takes Nell aback since she'd always thought that that was something that only happened in crappy romance novels. "You're wondering about me and Nate." It's a statement, not a question, and she nods, trying not to appear too eager and probably failing completely.

"I'm not even going to try and lie about it," she tells Kensi frankly. "We've gone to bars together, checked out guys together... you got hit on at a monster truck rally, for crying out loud! And now you just rock up with a secret marriage? To Nate?" Kensi's cheeks darken still further but she's smiling and Nell leans forward, an identical smile on her own lips. "I don't care that there's no wine, no beer, but seriously...spill."

Kensi takes a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling. "Me and Nate... ok, so I joined NCIS in 2006... came here a year later. That's when we met. And I thought, yeah, kinda cute, but not really my type. And anyway, the whole working together and being the new girl, and the only girl and him being the shrink..." She bites her lip, shakes her head. "I was not even thinking about going there."

"So what changed?"

"We just spent time together... I mean, we had to, with ops and debriefs. But he wasn't ... I mean, he wasn't like other shrinks. I could talk to him... about anything. We ended up spending time together outside of work... and one thing just led to another." She shrugs, pulling her legs up to her chin, resting her head on her knees. "But it wasn't constant... that would have been just too easy. He would freak out about the whole professional, ethical dilemma, about the job and Macy and Hetty... I would freak out about being in a relationship, let alone with a co-worker... we'd agree to call the whole thing off and then a few days, a few weeks later, we'd be back where we started."

"And marriage? How does that even work?"

"Vegas." Nell's jaw drops at the matter of fact tone of Kensi's voice. "We were there last week... Nate's college room mate was getting married to a girl from there... Nate was best man. So there we were, me in a very cute dress and heels, Nate in an honest to God tux... and there was dancing, and alcohol... and Nate's a really good dancer. Really good. And somewhere along the line, it seemed..." Her voice trails off. "It seemed like the thing to do."

Nell's eyes widen. "He just asked you? In the middle of the wedding?"

"No." Kensi bites her lip. "I... kinda asked him."

For once in her life, Nell is well and truly speechless. With little or no chance of her framing any type of reply, she is almost glad when her cell rang. Fishing it out of her pocket, she rolls her eyes at the caller ID. "Eric." Putting the phone to her ear, she hears him sounding more than a little panicked.

"Nell? Is Kensi with you?"

"Yes, Eric, Kensi is with me. We're both on the premises and we're perfectly fine." She shoots Kensi a "what are you gonna do?" look, gets a sympathetic grin in response.

She hears him shout the same to someone, then he comes back to her again. "Good, because Nate was about to have a coronary." Eric's wry tone makes Nell chuckle but when he continues talking, when his voice drops as if he was saying something that he didn't want to be overheard, the chuckle dies in her throat. "Listen, can you get up here? I've found something... and I don't want to report until we're all here."

Nell frowns. Anything Eric found should have been reported immediately, especially when it involved the kidnap of an NCIS agent. She can't imagine what would make Eric want to delay and that fact has her jumping to her feet. "We'll be right there."

*

Walking into Ops, Kensi doesn't miss the look of relief on Nate's face and she bites her lip at knowing that she was the one who caused it. Nell goes right to her chair, slips into it and glances over to Eric, gives him a little nod and it's then that he turns around, faces the rest of the team. "So," he begins, and Kensi's stomach twists because she's never heard Eric sound like that and give good news. "I scanned traffic cams and Kaleidoscope and it looks like we got lucky... I got a partial shot of one of the faces... not much, but enough to get a hit." He takes a deep breath and Kensi is acutely aware of Nate stepping up so that he's standing right behind her. Eric presses a button on his tablet and the view screen fills with a mug shot.

"Jason Carroll."

Strangely enough, it's Nate who speaks and all eyes are instantly on him. Kensi can't remember the last time, if ever, she saw Nate look like that - face pale, eyes narrowed, jaw clenched. He knows this guy, Kensi realises, and not just from this morning.

"Jason Carroll, Naval computer analyst, convicted five years ago of doing things that he really shouldn't have been doing, made a deal for testimony against those higher up the food chain, released on good behaviour last month." Eric keeps it succinct and Sam asks the obvious question.

"Nate, you know this guy?"

Nate nods. "I testified at his trial... I believed that he was more involved than he said, and I argued against that deal to the agent in charge of the investigation."

Eric presses a few more buttons; prison records flash up on screen, making for harrowing reading. "Based on what happened to him in jail, I'm not so sure you're wrong," he says. "But they couldn't prove anything, which is why he was released... he's staying in a low rent apartment downtown; his wife divorced him three years ago."

Sam shrugs, looks at Nate. "You took his wife, he takes yours?"

"It makes sense but..." Nate shakes his head. "I literally have not seen that man in five years. How did he know about me and Kensi? You guys didn't even know about me and Kensi."

"I...uh... I may have an answer for that." Eric suddenly looks very uncomfortable. "Nate, based on what you told me about where you and Kensi went yesterday, I looked into surveillance footage from the area... and this is what I found." With the press of a few buttons, the screen changes and Kensi finds herself looking at the entrance to the grocery store not far from her apartment. As she watches, the electronic doors slide open and she and Nate emerge, arms laden down with bags, smiling and laughing. She remembers the conversation, knows exactly what she was saying and she hopes that if anyone can lip read, they'll be decent enough to never tell.

They go out of shot and seconds later, the door opens again, and Jason Carroll appears on the screen. His face is drawn in an angry scowl, eyes following her and Nate as he steps after them. Eric freezes the footage and Kensi stares at him. "I never saw him," she says, amazed at herself. "Damn it, I should have known someone was following us."

"You can't have been expecting it," Nell offers, but Kensi's not having that.

"We should always be alert... isn't that what you always tell us, Sam?"

To her surprise, Sam shakes his head. "Believe me... I'm out with Michelle, with our daughter? I'm not always alert." Cue surprised looks from all, and he holds up a hand. "Mostly alert. But I have moments."

"So, we know how he found Kensi, where he took her... now we just have to figure out who helped him." Callen is obviously trying to hide a smile at Sam's admission, but it gets much easier when Nate holds up a hand.

"I just... I'll be back."

He walks out of Ops without a second glance and Kensi knows instantly what she has to do, where she has to be. "Excuse me."

She follows him down the steps, out into the courtyard, the exact path she once took when Dom disappeared. When she finds him, Nate is leaning back against the wall of the mission, staring at the sky, taking several deep breaths. Kensi stands beside him but doesn't touch him, waits for him to speak. "I can't believe this," he finally says. "I didn't expect... I mean, I don't know what I did expect... but it wasn't this."

Which makes perfect sense to Kensi - after all, if anyone was walking around with a target on their back, it was more likely to be her. She'd put more than a few people away who were bound to be holding a grudge; even now, she could put together a list of a dozen good candidates without blinking. "Nate, this wasn't your fault," she tells him and he gives her that Nate look she knows so well - head tilted, eyebrow raised, brow furrowed - and disagrees with her.

"Kensi... I know you don't need me to protect you. You've proved enough times that you can take care of yourself." Nate shakes his head as if helpless and she can see the turmoil in his eyes and it breaks her heart. "And this job is dangerous, I know... but this is the first time that you've been in danger because of me."

"Nate..." She takes his hand in both of hers. "You can't think like that."

"You were taken this morning because someone saw you with me and decided to use you to get to me... and I don't know how I'm supposed to deal with that."

She takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly, then moves so that she's standing in front of him, holding his arms firmly. "First of all? It's not I. It's we." He blinks but she doesn't, holds his gaze so that she can be sure he's understanding her, reminding him of his own words to her barely an hour ago. "We're a team, Nate. You and me, and we deal with things together. Second? This job is dangerous. We meet people every day who do horrible things, terrible things and it's our job to stop them. You can't predict what they'll do, what will happen... we just do our best... and we hope it's enough. And at the end of the day, we go home. Together."

Nate sighs, but some of the tension has gone from his shoulders, a lot of the turmoil from his eyes as he slips his arms around her waist, holds her loosely. "That's quite the pep talk you've got there," he says quietly and she shrugs her shoulders as she slides her hands up to his shoulders, then to around his neck, lacing her fingers together.

"Yeah, well, I just asked myself what my husband would say."

"Oh really?" Nate raises an eyebrow, lips drawing up in a smile at her flirty tone.

"Turns out he's kind of a smart guy. Which is obvious, I grant you, I mean, he did marry me..."

Nate chuckles, pulls her towards him and holds her tight, burying his head in her hair. She feels as much as hears him whisper, "Best thing I ever did," and while it's tempting to make a quick quip, she settles for closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, breathing him in.

"I was scared too," she whispers but before Nate can say anything, there's the distinct sound of a throat being cleared behind them. Jumping apart, Kensi turns to see Nell looking more than a little embarrassed.

"Sorry to interrupt," Nell says, sounding as embarrassed as she looks, hooking a thumb over her shoulder in the general direction of Ops. "I was sent to see if things were ok... and to say that if they were, you guys should come in because we might have a lead."

Nate takes a step towards her but Kensi stops him with a squeeze of her hand. "We'll be in in a second," she says and Nell nods, turning and disappearing quickly. When Nate looks down at Kensi, a question in his face, she meets his look with a question of her own. "We're good?" she asks and he smiles.

"Yeah," he says, bringing their joined hands to his lips. "We're good."

*

When Nell comes back into Ops, Sam keeps his eyes on the door, waits for Kensi and Nate to come back too. They arrive barely a minute later - and yes, he did count, thank you very much - and Sam notes with some relief that, while both still look as if they've been through hell, they are holding hands and there is certainly a more relaxed look to Nate than there had been a few minutes ago.

When Eric sees them coming in, he starts talking straight away. "So, leads are like buses. You wait all day for one, then two come along at once." Sam opens his mouth to hurry him up, but before he can say anything, Eric, perhaps seeing his look, dives right in. "Turns out that Jason Carroll's ex wife, Susan, didn't show for work today. I got the traffic cams up near her house and found this." A touch of the tablet and they see a woman getting stopping her car at a stop light, a man running up to the side of the car and getting in beside her. The gun in his hand is clearly visible, but so is his face. Eric's fingers fly across the tablet and then a mug shot turns up. "Mike Robinson, ex-cell mate of Jason Carroll. Comes across as pretty high on the psycho scale. And he works for the company that own the warehouse that Kensi was in this morning."

"And he's on the list of people who have access to the warehouse," Nell adds.

"So, how do we find him?" Callen cuts to the chase.

"This is his address...sending it to your phone." Eric is talking to Sam and he and Callen are heading for the door the second the first part leaves his lips. As Sam gets to the door though, he realises something.

"Deeks," he says. "You're with us." Callen gives him a questioning look, and even Deeks looks surprised, but Sam doesn't waver. "Don't even think of calling shotgun," he orders.

Deeks, still looking surprised, follows them out and slides obediently into the backseat of the Challenger. Once they're on the road, Sam doesn't really have a plan for the talk that he knows the police detective needs to hear; he figures that somehow, someway, the subject will come up organically.

Turns out Callen must have worked out his game, because he's the one who brings it up - and for a man who respects the privacy of his fellow agents, that is huge. "So, what do you think about this?"

Sam raises an eyebrow, glances over at his partner, gets a nod of understanding that only comes with years of team work. "I take it you're talking about Kensi and Nate?"

"What else could he possibly be talking about?" Deeks is trying to keep his game face on but it's too bad he's got a pretty crappy game face. What looks a lot like anger and frustration bleeds through every syllable.

"You think it's a good idea?" Callen is continuing playing his role, and Sam wonders if there's a little bit of him that actually means this. "I mean, Hetty looked ready to spit nails... Granger's head is probably going to explode."

Deeks gives a "humph" the like of which Sam hasn't heard since his daughter was a toddler being told to eat her broccoli. "His and everyone else's," he mutters.

Sam shrugs, decides it's time to cut to the chase, to both of them. "Honestly? I don't think it's any of our business."

He glances in the rear view mirror as he talks, sees the other man's head shoot up, eyes open wide. "Two of our friends..." he begins, "Our co-workers get married in secret and you think it's none of our business?"

"I don't think anybody's marriage is any of my business," Sam tells him frankly. "But I'll tell you something, Deeks...did you see Nate's face, in Ops? Before we knew where she was?" The memory, even now, makes him shudder. "I've seen that look. I've worn that look. And I know what it means. He loves her. That's good enough for me."

"You turning into a romantic on me?" Callen breaks his silence and Sam shoots him a glare, shakes his head.

"It's nothing to do with romance, or being soft," he declares. "Just watch them together. They're a good match. A good team, they always were. Besides, Hetty's the one who sent Nate off undercover, he's not full time with us anymore... work wise, I don't think Granger has a leg to stand on."

"What about Hetty?" Callen's question is serious and Sam lifts one eyebrow.

"I'll have the dustpan ready to pick up the pieces she leaves of them."

Callen grins at that and even Deeks is able to raise a smile as Sam turns a corner and pulls up to the kerb. "That's Susan Carroll's house on the left," he says.

"And that?" Deeks is pointing to a familiar looking car parked further down the street. "Is the car that took Kensi."

"Number plate missing," Callen notices and Sam shakes his head.

"As if they thought that would fool us. Pitiful, man. Just pitiful."

Years of teamwork mean that Sam and Callen have developed a shorthand, to say nothing of an understanding that requires no speech. Deeks has been around them for long enough to know how they work together and he falls in behind them, each of them playing their part as they make their way to the house. Sam uses a scope to look through one of the windows, sees Susan Carroll tied up in a chair, two men talking beside her. He nods as Callen and he and Deeks enter the house first, Sam following them.

Carroll and Robinson aren't even holding guns and in a matter of seconds, they are on the floor in handcuffs without a shot being fired.

"Pathetic," Sam mutters to himself. "You're under arrest," he says louder then, over the protests of the two men, something about role playing and "Fifty Shades of Grey," as Deeks unties Susan Carroll who is shaking her head vehemently. "Oh yeah?" he adds. "What about the Federal Agent you took this morning?"

That stops the two men talking abruptly and Robinson turns furious eyes on Carroll. "You never told me she was a Fed," he hisses and Carroll has a look of shock on his face.

"I didn't... I mean...."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Deeks hauls him up off the floor and starts to bring him out. "Tell it to the judge."

*

When Sam calls with the news that Susan Carroll is safe, that Carroll and Robinson are in custody, celebrations erupt in Ops. Eric and Nell exchange high fives, Kensi sags with relief as Nate pulls her into a hug and even Hetty raises a smile. The moment doesn't last for long, though, because when Hetty speaks, everyone snaps to attention. "Miss Blye... I think we'll have that word now." Hetty beckons Kensi with a curl of her finger and Kensi falls into step behind her. Nate follows her, and they both stop when Hetty does, freezing when she turns around and narrows her eyes at Nate. "Alone."

Nate actually blanches, swallows hard. "Yes, Ma'am."

Kensi follows Hetty down the stairs and into her office, sitting down quietly opposite Hetty and waiting for her to speak. "I called you Miss Blye," Hetty begins. "Or is it Mrs Getz?"

"Still Blye." Kensi gives a nervous smile. "Mrs Getz is Nate's mom... and he seemed pretty freaked when I asked what his opinion on the subject was."

Hetty raised an eyebrow. "Having heard him on the subject of his mother, I don't blame him for not wanting a second Mrs Getz in his life." Kensi's smile this time is more genuine, fading when Hetty leans over. "And yet... here you are."

Kensi meets her gaze, holds it. "Here I am," she agrees. Hetty presses her lips together firmly, brings a finger to her lips and Kensi knows interrogation technique, knows she should wait it out, but she can't. "I love him, Hetty... I do. It surprised both of us, we didn't plan it, didn't mean for it to happen... but he makes me happy. He makes me better. And I can't imagine my life without him." She shrugs helplessly. "So I married him."

"Which is all well and good... but Jane Eyre never did the job that you do."

"That's not going to change, Hetty... Nate knows who I am, what I do..."

"And later? When children come along?" Hetty is leaning back in her chair now, eyes not moving from Kensi's face.

"We haven't talked about that." It takes every ounce of training Kensi's ever had to sit still, not to fidget. "But I wouldn't allow any changes in my personal life to compromise my work, Hetty... you know that."

"Indeed I do, Miss Blye...so, my final question." There's a long pause where Kensi finds herself holding her breath. "If I said that I couldn't allow two of my agents to be involved... if I said, in effect, that it was your job or Nate..."

"Nate." The word leaves Kensi's lips before she has time to think about it, certainly before she realises that she's just interrupted Hetty. She bites her lip at the realisation - people have been assigned to Alaska for less.  
Hetty's face is perfectly still, then breaks into a broad smile. "I was hoping that's what you would say."

Kensi frowns, blinks in confusion. "Wait, am I being fired?"

"On the contrary, dear heart." Hetty stands, comes around the table to stand beside Kensi. Kensi automatically stands up and when the older woman holds out her hands to her, she finds herself returning the warm hug. "And my warmest congratulations to you... to both of you." She looks over her shoulder. "Mr Getz, I assume you heard all of that," she calls. "Come in, won't you?"

With red cheeks and an abashed look, Nate does as he is told, receiving another hug from Hetty. The visual of them hugging makes Kensi giggle and she bites the inside of her cheek to keep it back. When he steps back, looks down at Hetty, Nate stands beside Kensi, takes her hand in his. "We're sorry you had to find out about it this way," he says and Hetty waves a hand.

"Mr Getz, I understand why you couldn't tell me that you two were together. And I certainly understand the allure of a Vegas wedding." Her eyes took on a faraway look, her smile turned distinctly devilish and Kensi turned an astonished look on Nate. "But that's another story for another time. Mr Getz, I need to talk to you about your role here...in private, I'm afraid."

Kensi squeezes Nate's hand. "I'll see you in a while." When Nate squeezes her hand back, she knows he's nervous and she shoots him what she hopes is a reassuring smile before she walks away. She's got a funny feeling that it might not have turned out that way, not if the look he gives her is anything to go by, and she promises herself that she'll make it up to him later.

She passes by her desk without sitting down, instead heads to the far corner of the mission, sits down on one of the couches there and curls her legs up underneath her. Suddenly, the day seems to have caught up with her and she can hardly keep her eyes open. Yawning, she makes herself comfortable, pulls a blanket across her lap, closes her eyes and waits for Nate and she's not sure how much time has passed when she hears someone say her name.

"Deeks."

"I didn't mean to wake you."

Deeks sounds as sheepish as he looks and Kensi sits up on the couch, pushes her hair out of her face and wipes her eyes. "I wasn't asleep," she tells him, which is almost the truth. Had she been there much longer, she would have, in all likelihood, fallen asleep but she hadn't quite been there yet. "Really," she insists off his amused smile, the way he lifts one eyebrow.

"Whatever you say, Kens." He looks over his shoulder towards Ops. "They're just wrapping up some stuff...and I saw Nate in with Hetty...I just wanted to see how you were doing."

The mention of Nate's name, the tone of Deeks's voice, has Kensi swallowing, sitting up a bit straighter and drawing her legs up underneath her. "Deeks...I would have told you myself," she tells him honestly, hopes he knows it's the truth. "After Hetty, I was going to come looking for you... I didn't want you to hear about it through the grapevine..."

Deeks chuckles without humour. "Well, I can't exactly hold that against you, under the circumstances." Another humourless chuckle. "Of all the people I thought would have a quickie Vegas wedding...you were not on the list. Me, definitely. But not you."

Kensi feels her cheeks darken but she can't deny that it's true. She wants to say more, wants to explain herself but she's not sure how Deeks has been taking the news - though what with the looks and the barbed comments, she fancies the answer is 'not well' - and the idea of telling him what she'd told Nell earlier, how it had seemed right, how she'd just known, doesn't sit right with her somehow. So instead of telling him that, she takes a deep breath as she looks down, notices her fingers picking idly at the blanket covering her legs, forces them to stop. "Are we ok, Deeks?"

It's the only question she wants an answer to and she's well aware she might not like the one she gets. Deeks, though, only gives her that easy going smile of his. "What, because of our 'thing'?" He puts air quotes around the word and when she opens her mouth to say something, he holds up a hand to stop her. "It's ok, Kens," he tells her. "It hasn't been like that between us for a while now...guess I finally know why."

"Deeks..."

"Does he make you happy, Kens?" The question is posed as seriously as she's ever heard Deeks speak and she can't speak past the sudden lump in her throat so she just nods instead. Deeks's voice is quiet and suspiciously husky when he adds, "Well then... I'm happy for you. Really."

Their eyes meet and hold for a long moment and it might have lasted longer if not for the fact that Nate approaches them, eyes darting between them, brow furrowing in worry. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Deeks grins as he looks up at Nate. "Just trying to talk the little woman here into letting us throw you a post wedding bachelor party." His voice is his normal voice, upbeat and cheery, and in that moment Kensi knows things are going to be fine.

"Oh no," she says. "No way."

Deeks grins up at Nate who shakes his head. "I'm going with my wife on this one," he says and Kensi suddenly realises that that's the first time she's heard Nate refer to her in conversation as his wife. It makes her grin, a grin that grows even wider when she hears Sam's voice.

"A very good idea," he says, clapping Nate on the shoulder. "I didn't get to say congratulations earlier... but congratulations." He shakes Nate's hand, goes over to Kensi and gives her a warm hug. "I'm glad you're ok," he whispers in her ear and she hugs him back just a little bit tighter then.

When Sam steps away from her, she sees that the rest of the team have joined them, and handshakes and hugs are exchanged before Hetty arrives, bottle of champagne in hand. Nell is at her side, a tray of glasses in hand and Hetty pops the bottle, pours everyone a glass and hands them around.

"Our lives hold many secrets," she says seriously, holding her glass up high. "The cost of doing what we do can be high... and when we find someone in our lives who can share our secrets, who makes our lives better, we owe it to ourselves to embrace that. So I would like to raise a toast... to Nate and Kensi."

"Nate and Kensi."

The toast is echoed by everyone and as the glasses clink, Nate leans forward, presses his lips against Kensi. She returns the kiss, impervious to the catcalls and whistles lobbied their way.

They've earned this kiss today, and she's going to make the most of it.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Revelations (Artwork)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/851616) by [astral_addict](https://archiveofourown.org/users/astral_addict/pseuds/astral_addict)




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